Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
May 10, 2022
The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem.
It was winter.
And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon.
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,
“How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
Reflection
“It was winter.”
My first reaction to this phrase was to marvel at how such a wonderfully mundane fact made it into today’s gospel reading.
The feast of the Dedication is what we would refer to today as Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights held in December. Indeed, it was the beginning of winter in Jerusalem. Jesus was likely in the Portico of Solomon, seeking shelter from the cold winds of the desert that sometimes pushed low temperatures into the 40s.
But it occurs to me that this isn’t the only winter John the Apostle may be intimating. As we see in their questioning, God’s chosen people were eager to know if Jesus was the Christ, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies foretelling the coming of their savior. How difficult it must have been to live in constant expectation and routine disappointment. This centuries-long winter would only break with Jesus’ redemptive crucifixion and resurrection.
This leads me to the obvious yet incredible realization: We live in the spring! Winter is not coming. Spring is here. It started with Jesus emerging from the tomb and continues today in the daily sacrifice of the Mass.
While the temperatures for my local town, Mishawaka, in May are not far from Jerusalem in December, it’s clear that spring is here both seasonally and spiritually. This past weekend my youngest received her first Holy Communion. As Jesus counts those among his flock, I pray that she will hear him, follow him and accept the eternal life he gives.
May we all hear his voice and follow him in this Easter spring. Alleluia!
Prayer
Christ our Good Shepherd, you tirelessly seek out the lost, and you give strength to the weary sinner. In your unfathomable mercy, you never cease to pour out blessings upon those who despair of finding you. Help us to extend this same spirit of consolation to our brothers and sisters in need, and may we always imitate your example of tender care towards the poor. We ask this in your name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Solange is patron saint of victims of sexual assault because she died insisting on her faithfulness to Jesus while refusing the advances of a young man.
She was born in ninth-century France to poor parents who were field-workers in a vineyard. At an early age, she dedicated herself to God and took a vow of chastity. Her job on the estate was to tend the sheep. She would spend her time in the pastures in prayer, and had a caring and gentle touch with animals. Several miracles of healing were attributed to her.
A young nobleman—the son of her family’s landlord—heard of her beauty and holiness, and he rode his horse to the pastures where she would tend sheep alone. When she resisted his advances, he grabbed her and placed her on his horse and began to ride off. She wrestled her way free and fell from the horse. Despite being seriously injured, she tried to make an escape, but the young man caught her and killed her with his hunting sword, which she holds in this image from a stained glass window in the Basilica.
St. Solange is also patron of the province of Berry, France, which explains her presence in this Basilica window. Father Sorin and the Holy Cross brothers who founded the University came from France, and brought with them their French devotion—she was popularly venerated in her home region. In the smaller window shown here, she is shown in prayer in the sheep pastures.
St. Solange, patron saint of victims of sexual assault—pray for us!